REJOINDER 


\ 


TO  TIIE 


KEPL1  OP  THE  CENTRAL  COMMITTEE 


OF  TIIE 


(A 


Republican  Party  of  So.  Carolina 


TO  THE 


memorial 


OF  THE 


TAXPAYERS’  CONVENTION. 


Charleston , S.  C. 

The  News  and  Courier  Job  Presses 

1874- 


0 


e 


♦ 


REJOINDER 


. TO  THE 

REPLY  OF  THE  CENTRAL  COMMITTEE 

OP  THE 


Republican  Party  of  So.  Carolina 


TO  THE 


MEMORIAL 

OF  THE 


Charleston,  S.  C. 

The  News  ancl  Courier  Job  Presses. 

1874 • 


~Y\0  5 f- 


SeaWoeK  1^0  \*\\|\\LT\A 


I 

REJOINDER. 


The  Reply  of  the  State  Central  Committee  of  the  Republican 
Party  to  the  Memorial  of  the  Taxpayers’  Convention  is  before  us. 
As  the  members  of  the  State  Committee  are,  also,  members  of  the 
Legislature,  or  officeholders  under  the  State  Government,  they 
are  more  or  less  involved  in  the  issues  made  by  the  Memorial. 

The  Reply  begins  with  the  charge  that  the  Memorialists  de- 
clined to  accept  the  earnest  invitation  of  Republicans  to  partici- 
pate in  the  work  of  Reconstructing  the  State.  This  charge  is 
nothing  less  than  au  appeal  to  political  prejudice,  and  is  meant 
to  operate  as  a diversion  from  the  present  issues.  Even  if  true, 
in  its  full  extent,  it  would  not,  and  could  not,  justify  spoliation 
and  plunder  under  the  forms  of  law.  It  is,  however,  proper  to  ^ 
say  that  the  leading  men  of  the  State  were  put  under  political 
disabilities  by  the  Reconstruction  Acts;  and  that  no  such  invita- 
tion as  that  described  was  extended  to  them.  On  the  contrary, 
distrust  was,  from  the  very  beginning,  sown  broadcast  in  the ' 
minds  of  the  newly  enfranchised  citizens,  against  the  former 
rulers,  by  designing  men,  who,  taking  advantage  of  their  inex 
perience,  played  upon  their  passions  for  the  selfish  purpose  of 
enriching  themselves  and  promoting  their  own  political  advance- jt 
ment.  And  it  is  these  very  men,  and  their  associates,  who, 
banded  together  by  the  cohesive  power  of  public  plunder,  have 
first  destroyed  the  credit  of  the  State,  by  an  excessive  issue  of 
bonds,  and  are  now  engaged  in  crushing  out  the  people  of  the 
State  by  the  wanton  abuse  of  the  power  of  taxation. 

When  the  Memorial  of  the  Taxpayers  to  Congress  was  pub- 
lished, the  passages  which  had  the  most  elfect  upon  the  popular 
mind,  were  those  which  illustrate  the  difference  between  the  ex- 


jo  23461 


4 


penses  of  the  State  Government  before  the  Avar,  and  the  expenses 
since  Reconstruction.  The  Central  Committee  felt  that  it  was 
imperatively  necessary  to  lessen,  if  they  could,  the  force  of  the 
facts  contained  in  the  Memorial,  and  in  their  Apology,  or  Countei- 
statement,  they  accordingly  say:  . 

The  statement  that  “ the  annual  expenses  of  the  Government 
have  advanced  from  $400,000  before  the  Avar  to  tAvo  millions  and 
a half  at  the  present  time,”  is  entirely  incorrect,  and  the  items  of 
expenditures  given  to  prove  this  statement  are  wholly  inaccurate 
and  untrue , and  skilf  ully  selected  to  deceive . 

This  is  a serious  charge,  and  it  shall  be  squarely  met.  It 
divides  itself  into  tAvo  branches,  viz:  the  denial  that  the  annual 
expenses  of  the  Government  Avere  $400,000  before  the  war , and 
the  denial  that  the  annual  expenses  of  the  Government  are  two 
millions  and  a half  at  the  present  time.  In  speaking  of  annual 
expenses,  the  Memorialists  took  into  account  only  the  ordinary 
expenses  of  the  Government.  They  would  not,  for  example, 
charge,  as  part  of  the  expenses  of  the  Government,  an  extraordi- 
nary expenditure  met  by  the  issue  of  bonds,  or  by  means  other 
than  taxation.  This,  also,  is  the  view  taken  by  the  Central  Com- 
mittee. Were  they  to  include  the  increase  of  the  State  debt,  since 
Reconstruction,  in  their  estimate  of  the  expenses  of  the  Govern- 
ment, they  would  (see  Treasurer  Cardozo’s  article  in  the  Colum- 
bia Union , of  February  23,  1874,)  swell  the  cost  of  their  rule,  for 
four  years  and  five  months,  ending  on  November  30,  1872,  to 
“ an  average  annual  expenditure  of  $4,557,066.”  This  is  far 
Avorse  than  the  average  of  $1, §6 3, 150,  for  State  purposes  alone, 
which,  in  the  same  article,  Treasurer  Cardozo  confesses.  We 
have  to  deal  then  only  Avith  ordinary  receipts  and  ordinary  ex- 
penses. The  Committee,  hoAvever,  to  give  some  color  of  truth  to 
their  arraignment  of  the  Memorial,  and  “ to  show  the  unjust  and 
adroit  manner  in  Avhich  the  statement  of  expenditures  has  been 
manipulated  by  the  Memorialists,  for  their  purposes  of  decep- 
tion,” submit  a statement,  “ carefully  compiled  from  the  official 
records,  of  the  expenses  of  the  State  Government  before  the  war 
and  the  first  three  years  after.”  With  “the  first  three  years 
after”  Ave  have  at  present  nothing  to  do.  The  figures  for  the 


5 


nine  years  ending  in  1860  are  given,  by  the  Committee,  as 
follows: 


1851- 52 $ 463,021  73 

1852- 53 » 482,9V. 4 67 

1853- 54 533,123  20 

1854- 55  484,883  29 

1855- 56 ' 591,145  98 

1856- 57 608,294  85 

1857- 58 1,036,924  39 

1858- 59 908,698  02 

1859- 60 967,968  57 


Nine  years 


$6,077,034  70 


Annual  average $ 675,226  07 

This  appears  to  be,  at  the  first  glance,  a plausible  reply  to  the 
statement  of  the  Memorialists,  but  unfortunately  for  the  Com- 
mittee, who  say  that  “ these  figures  do  not  include  interest  on  the 
public  debt,”  the  figures  in  question  do  include  considerable 
sums  for  both  interest  and  capital  of  the  public  debt,  and,  also, 
for  extraordinary  expenses  which  were  provided  for  otherwise 
than  by  taxation.  The  amounts  actually  received  by  the  Comp- 
troller for  State  taxes  in  the  nine  years  before  named  were  as 
follows : 


1851- 52 

1852- 53 

1853- 54 

1854- 55 

1855- 56 

1856- 57 

1857- 58 

1858- 59 

1859- 60 


$ 331,341  00 
341,853  25 
422,742  69 
377,501  90 
501,771  87 
434,167  29 
439,137  29 
600,444  29 
591,799  58 


Nine  years 


$4,040,759  16 


Annual  average 


$ 448,973  24 


6 


This  is  very  different  from  the  annual  average  as  shown  in  the 
figures  of  the  Committee.  The  plain  truth  is  that  there  were,  in 
every  year  of  the  nine  years,  extraordinary  expenses,  which  form 
no  part  of  the  ordinary  expenses  of  the  Government.  The  prin- 
cipal of  these  were  the  expenditures  for  the  Defence  of  the  State, 
and  the  expenditures  for  the  New  State  House,  and  for  interest 
on  the  bonds  and  stocks  issued  on  account  of  that  edifice.  A 
large  sum  of  money  was  spent  in  improving  Charleston  Harbor, 
and  there  were  other  extraordinary  expenses,  of  which  we  take 
no  account. 

1.  The  expenditures  for  the  Defence  of  the  State,  which  were 
met  almost  entirely  bjr  the  surplus  profits  of  the  Bank  of  the  State, 
were  as  follows: 

1851- 52  $130,000  00 

1852- 53  37,310  00 

1853- 54  80,273  52 

Total $247,583  52 

2.  The  Expenditures  for  the  New  State  House,  and  for  inter- 
est on  the  New  State  House  bonds  and  stocks,  the  expenditures 
being  met  by  the  sale  of  bonds  and  stocks,  were  as  follows: 


1854- 55, 

1855- 56, 

New  State 

a <c 

House 

a 

$ 

83,115 

71,514 

75 

48 

1856-57, 

u 

a 

tt 

140,401 

96 

1857-58, 

u 

a 

u 

522,604 

12 

1858-59, 

a 

a 

tt 

355,000 

00 

1859-60, 

a 

it 

a 

418,717 

48 

Total 

$1,591,353 

79 

1854- 55, 

1855- 56, 

1856- 57, 

Interest . . . 

u 

$ 

13,080 

12,690 

00 

00 

it 

25,296 

00 

1857-58, 

a 

42,147 

77 

1858-59, 

it 

69,099 

90 

1859-60, 

tt 

92,592 

60 

Total 

$ 

254,906 

27 

These  amounts  added  together  are: 

Defense  of  the  State $ 247,583  52 

New  State  House 1,591,353  79 

Interest  . 254,900  27 

Grand  total $2,093,843  58 

Expenses  nine  years,  per  Reply $6,077,034  70 

Less  extraordinary  expenses  not  met  by  taxation. . 2,093,843  58 

Actual  expenses $3,983,191  12 

True  annual  average $ 442,576  79 


This  is  an  ample  vindication  of  the  correctness  of  the  figures 
given  in  the  Memorial,  but  we  go  further  and  append  a table  of 
the  amounts  raised  by  State  taxation  for  the  ten  years  ending  in 
1858.  The  figures  are  taken  from  the  Report  of  Comptroller 
Pickens,  dated  October  1,  1859: 


1849  $ 299,148 

1850  329,991 

1851  516,175 

1852..  # 349,929 

1853  362,223 

1854  429,976 

1855  399,738 

1856  533,140 

1857  463,246 

1858  635,421 


Total  for  ten  years $4,318,987 


Annual  average $ 431,898 


It  is  proved,  therefore,  that  the  annual  expenses  of  the  State 
Government  before  the  war  were  $400,000.  And  the  average  an- 
nual outlay  of  $431,898,  above  given,  includes,  moreover,  the  pay- 
ments for  fees  of  jurors  and  witnesses,  for  physicians  and  surg- 
eons, testifying  as  experts,  and  for  holding  post-mortem  exami- 


8 


nations;  also,  the  cost  of  dieting  prisoners,  and  the  fees  of  sheriffs, 
clerks  of  court,  coroners,  constables,  and  the  like.  These  ex- 
penses before  the  war  were  paid  by  the  State  out  of  the  general 
tax,  but  are  now  paid  directly  by  the  respective  Counties,  out  of 
the  County  tax.  In  the  year  1859-60,  these  expenditures  amount- 
ed to  $116,832,  and  such  payments  must  be  deducted  from  the 
nominal  expenditures  of  the  State  Government  before  the  war, 
in  order  to  make  any  comparison  with  the  expenditures  of  the 
State  Government  subsequent  to  the  war  intelligible  and  just. 
Without  going  into  further  details,  it  may  safely  be  asserted  that 
the  deductions  mentioned  would  reduce  the  annual  expenditures 
for  State  purposes,  met  by  taxation,  during  the  nine  years  end- 
ing in  1858,  to  an  average  of  less  than  $350,000.  It  now  remains 
to  show  that  the  annual  expenses  of  the  Government  have  ad- 
vanced to  two  and  a half  millions  of  dollars.  This  is  quickly 
done. 

Before  the  war,  the  only  taxes  corresponding  to  what  are  known 
as  County  taxes  were  what  were  known  as  the  police  assessments, 
which,  upon  an  average  of  nine  years  preceding  the  war,  amount- 
ed to  $140,000  a year.  Add  this  to  the  general  State  tax  of  say 
$350,000  a year,  and  we  have  a total  tax  of  $490,000  a year,  as 
the  cost  to  the  people,  before  the  war,  of  conducting  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  State.  The  Comptroller’s  reports  show  what  the 
actual  expenditures  have  been  in  each  year,  under  the  rule  of  the 
Ring,  viz: 


1868- 69 

1869- 70 

1870- 71 

1871- 72 

1872- 73 


$2,099,365 

1,806,540 

1,853,976 

1,634,835 

1,717,318 


This  is  exclusive  of  the  County  tax,  which,  up  to  1872-73,  av- 
eraged $450,000  a year,  and  which,  for  the  year  1873-74,  will 
amount  to  nearly  three-quarters  of  a million.  Add  these  taxes 
for  County  purposes,  and  the  poll  tax,  to  the  amounts  paid  out 
for  State  purposes,  and  it  will  be  seen  that  the  annual  expenses  of 
the  Government  have,  as  stated  in  the  Memorial,  advanced  from 
$400,000  to  even  more  than  two  and  a half  million  dollars. 


9 


Inasmuch  as  the  expenditures  for  nine  years,  ending  in  1859, 
have  been  proved,  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  discuss  the  proposi- 
tion of  the  Central  Committee  that  the  appropriations  and  ex- 
penditures in  1865-66  are  no  criterion  whatever  of  the  regular 
expenses  before  the  war.  But  in  that  year,  when  the  whole  ma- 
chinery of  the  State  Government  was  in  full  operation,  the  ex- 
penditures were  only  $260,248,  and  the  late  Governor  Orr,  whose 
broad  views  the  Central  Committee  dare  not  question,  and  whose 
experience  in  public  affairs  none  can  doubt,  officially  informed 
the  General  Assembly  that  the  Government  of  the  State  could  be 
efficiently  carried  on  for  $350,000  a year.  But  in  order  that  the 
comparative  burden  of  taxation,  under  the  two  rules,  may  be 
properly  appreciated,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  expendi- 
ture of  $400,000  a year  before  the  war  was  raised  out  of  taxable 
values  of  about  $500,000,000,  while  the  present  expenditure  of 
$2,500,000  is  raised  out  of  taxable  values  not  exceeding  $160,- 
000,000.  This  element  of  calculation,  which  more  than  trebles 
the  weight  of  taxation,  is  left  entirely  out  of  view  by  the  apolo- 
gists of  the  present  misrule.  They  do  not  seem  to  realize  the 
truth  that  the  poorer  people  become,  the  less  able  they  are  to 
bear  taxation.  On  the  contrary,  their  rule  appears  to  be  that, 
from  those  who  have  little,  shall  be  taken  even  the  little  that 
they  have. 

The  proposition  that  the  free  population  of  the  State  has 
doubled  since  emancipation,  and  that,  therefore,  the  “ cost  of 
governing”  should  be  increased  in  the  same  proportion,  is  almost 
too  preposterous  for  argument  with  those  who  know  the  facts. 
The  number  of  souls  in  the  State  before  the  war  was  700,000, 
and  the  number  is  about  the  same  now.  It  is  freely  admitted 
that  the  number  of  officers  and  the  amount  of  salaries,  and  the 
appropriations  for  schools  would  be  increased  by  the  enfranchise- 
ment of  the  freedmen.  But  that  all  the  expenses  of  Government 
would  be  increased  and  magnified  as  if  so  many  additional 
persons  or  souls  had  been  introduced  into  the  State,  is  a device 
and  suggestion  worthy  of  the  financial  ingenuity  which  has  al- 
ready impoverished  our  people  by  enriching  their  oppressors. 
This  per  capita  calculation,  in  a case  such  as  ours,  would  excite 
mirth  were  the  subject  not  too  sad  for  a joke. 


10  • 


Of  similar  character  is  the  allegation  that  the  people  of  the 
State  would  allow  their  lands  to  be  forfeited  to  the  State  for  non- 
payment of  taxes  a rather  than  sell  them  to  the  colored  people.” 
It  is  a fact  that  268,523  acres  of  land  and  309  buildings  were 
forfeited  to  the  State  in  1873,  for  failure  to  pay  State  and  County 
taxes  for  the  year  1872,  which  taxes,  with  the  penalties  and 
costs,  amounted  to  $32,858,  or  less  than  thirteen  cents  an  acre, 
without  counting  the  buildings.  This  simple  truth  staggered  the 
Central  Committee,  and  had  to  be  met  in  some  way.  No  intelli- 
gent man,  however,  will  believe  that  the  landowners  are  as  fool- 
hardy and  infatuated  as  the  Central  Committee  represent  them 
to  be.  The  truth  is,  the  people  had  not  the  money  to  pay,  and 
could  not  procure  it.  Nor  could  the  colored  population  become 
purchasers,  because  excessive  taxation  falls  directly  or  indirectly 
upon  all  classes  of  citizens  in  the  State.  We  commend  to  the 
Central  Committee  the  words  of  one  of  their  own  organs,  the 
Union- Her  old,  of  Columbia,  which  words  are  as  true  as  they  are 
pointed : 

It  is  a mistake,  as  a principle,  to  assert  that  when  the  taxes 
are  so  heavy  as  to  compel  the  owners  of  land  to  sell,  the  poorer 
class  can  buy.  The  middle  class  may  buy,  but  real  poor  men 
can’t.  When  taxes  are  high,  rent  and  provisions  are  high,  and 
yet  wages  are  low.  It  hits  the  poor  man  both  ways.  Every 
poor  man  should  keep  this  in  mind.  That  is  the  reason  why, 
although  about  250,000  acres  of  land  have  been  sold  for  taxes 
lately,  still  the  State  lias  had  to  take  it  all,  and  the  poor  man  has 
not  been  able  to  buy  a tax  title.  There  is  no  getting  round 
that  fact. 

The  State  Committee  take  great  credit  to  themselves  for  the 
Repudiation  of  six  millions  of  Conversion  Bonds.  And  yet  it  is 
admitted  that  the  money  arising  from  the  hypothecation  and 
sale  of  these  very  bonds  went  into  the  Treasury,  and  was  used 
by  their  party.  The  Legislature  “validated”  these  very  bonds, 
and  legalized  the  acts  of  the  officers  in  disposing  of  them;  while 
another  Legislature,  of  the  same  stamp,  has  declared  them  void, 
on  the  ground  that  they  were  illegally  and  fraudulently  issued. 
What  a precious  specimen  is  this  of  Ring  legislation  in  South 
Carolina  ! But  was  there  no  show  of  a purpose  to  hold  to  ac- 
count the  officials  who  were  declared  by  the  General  Assembty  to 


11 


have  been  guilty  of  a violation  of  the  law  ? There  was  ! As 
soon  as  the  person  who  was  State  Treasurer  during  the  adminis- 
tration of  Governor  Scott  ventured  to  print,  in  a New  York 
newspaper,  a defense  of  himself  and  a declaration  of  the  validity 
of  the  bonds  which  had  just  been  repudiated,  the  General  As- 
sembly adopted  a Joint  Resolution  requiring  the  Attorney-Gen- 
eral to  prosecute  the  accused  official.  This  Joint  Resolution, 
however,  was  conveniently  lost  at  the  close  of  the  Session,  and 
the  Governor,  to  whom  a duplicate  copy  was  sent,  regularly 
signed  by  the  President  of  the  Senate  and  Speaker  of  the  House, 
refused  to  sign  the  Joint  Resolution  upon  the  ground  that  it  was 
not  received  while  the  Legislature  was  in  Session.  Comment  is 
unnecessary. 

The  statement  of  the  receipts  and  expenditures  at  the  State 
Treasuries  from  October  1,  1859,  to  September  30,  1860,  as  pub- 
lished officially  in  one  of  their  own  organs,  is  in  itself  sufficient 
evidence  of  the  disingenuousness  of  the  reply  of  the  Central  Com- 
mittee to  the  Memorial  of  the  Taxpayers.  For  instance,  that 
statement  shows  that,  in  the  year  named,  the  payments  for  legis- 
lative purposes  and  Public  Printing  were  as  follows: 

Legislative  Expenses $16,828  70 

Public  Printing 11,177  78 

Total $28,006  48 

But  in  the  three  years  ending  respectively  in  October,  1871, 
1872,  and  1873,  the  amount  of  money  actually  paid  out  for  Leg- 
islative expenses  and  Printing  was  as  follows: 


1871, 

1872, 

1873, 


Legislative. 
.$  280,361 


$ 133,651 


Printing. 


712,249 

291,339 


$1,283,949 


$ 680,225 
1,283,949 


$1,964,174 


Total  for  three  years, 
Annual  average 


$ 654,724 


12 


This  shows  that  the  average  annual  expenditures  for  Printing 
and  for  Legislative  expenses,  from  1871  to  1873,  and  for  the 
year  1859-60  were,  respectively,  $654,724  and  $28,006.  In  other 
words,  our  new  rulers,  for  the  two  purposes  named,  spent  twenty- 
three  times  as  much  as  was  spent,  for  the  same  purposes,  in  that 
year  before  the  war,  which  they  themselves  have  chosen  as  an 
example  of  heavy  expenditures  under  Conservative  rule. 

The  Central  Committee  admit  that  under  Republican  rule  the 
debt  of  the  State  has  been  increased  from  $5,000,000  to  $16,- 
000,000,  of  which  amount  the  present  Legislature,  as  already 
noticed,  has  repudiated  $6,000,000,  as  having  been  issued  without 
authority  of  law.  This,  according  to  the  Committee,  “ leaves 
the  unquestionably  valid  debt  at  $10,000,000.”  Of  this  amount, 
“ $5,000,000  were  issued  by  the  Democrats,  and  $5,000,000  by 
the  Republicans  but  “ of  the  amount  issued  by  the  Republi- 
cans,” say  the  Committee,  “ they  are  only  really  responsible  for 
$1,700,000,  issued  for  the  Relief  of  the  Treasury  and  the  Land 
Commission.”  The  $3,300,000,  for  which  they  hold  that  they 
are  not  responsible,  were  issued,  they  say,  to  pay  past  due  inter- 
est, also,  to  redeem  bills  of  the  Bank  of  the  State,  used  before 
the  war;  also,  to  redeem  the  Bills  Receivable  issued  under  the 
administration  of  Governor  Orr.  The  disingenuousness  of  this 
explanation  is  shown  by  the  records.  When  Governor  Scott 
succeeded  Governor  Orr,  he  reported  to  the  General  Assembly 
that  the  amount  of  interest  on  the  public  debt  due  and  falling 
due  up  to  July  1,  1868  (when  Reconstruction  was  absolutely 
complete)  was  $355,204.  The  holders  of  the  bonds  and  stocks 
of  the  State  were  perfectly  willing  to  fund  their  interest.  In- 
stead of  doing  this,  the  Scott  administration  sold  new  bonds,  at 
low  figures,  to  meet  the  overdue  interest,  in  order  that  a profitable 
speculation  in  Wall  street  might  thereby  be  made.  The  result 
is,  that  the  bond  debt  of  the  State  was  increased  some  $800,000 
to  discharge  a liability  of  less  than  half  that  amount.  In  like 
manner  with  the  Bills  Receivable.  These  were  a loan  without 
interest,  and,  as  they  were  receivable  for  taxes,  could  soon  have 
been  absorbed.  There  was  no  need  to  force  a liquidation  of 
them,  but  the  Scott  administration  immediately  authorized  the 
issue  of  bonds  to  redeem  these  bills,  and  the  consequence  is  that 


13 


the  State  stands  charged  to-day  with  an  interest-bearing  bonded 
debt  of  $500,000,  incurred  in  redeeming  a debt  of  $298,784,  which 
was  not  pressing  for  payment,  and  which  bore  no  interest.  The 
case  of  the  bills  of  the  Bank  of  the  State  is  a similar  one.  They 
could  have  been  taken  up  and  cancelled  at  forty  or  fifty  cents  on 
the  dollar,  which  was  far  more  than  they  would  bring  at  that 
time  in  the  market  j but  the  bulk  of  them  were  held  by  a ring  of 
speculators,  and  the  Legislature,  regardless  of  the  public  interest, 
funded  the  bills  in  bonds  of  the  State  at  par.  Grouping  the 
different  sums  of  floating  debt,  it  is  seen  that  the  floating  debt, 
for  which  the  Republicans  incurred  a bonded  debt  of  $1,700,000, 
represented  a true  value  of  about  half  that  amount.  The  differ- 
ence between  what  was  paid  and  what  ought  to  have  been  paid, 
is  chargeable  to  the  maladministration  and  corruption  of  the  per- 
sons whom  the  Central  Committee  represent.  For  the  Land  Com- 
mission, bonds  to  the  amount  of  $700,000  were  issued  by  the 
Republican  administration,  11  to  purchase,”  as  the  Committee  say, 
“ land  for  sale  in  small  farms  to  the  freedmen  which  “ benefi- 
cent object  has  accomplished  much  good.”  It  has  put  money  in 
the  pockets  of  various  officials,  we  admit ; but  we  deny  that  it 
has  been  of  any  advantage  to  the  poor  freedman.  In  1871,  the 
Legislatuie  appointed  a Joint  Committee,  who,  among  other 
things,  investigated  the  affairs  of  the  Land  Commission.  Senator 
S wails,  who  is  one  of  the  Central  Committee,  was  a member  of 
the  Joint  Committee.  That  committee  denounced  “ the  Land 
Commission  and  its  operations  ” as  “an  outrageous  and  enormous 
swindle.”  They  declared  that  there  was  “ little  to  encourage  the 
belief  that  the  State  had  valid  titles  to  one  half  the  land  pur- 
chased by  the  Land  Commission,”  and  that  the  “ whole  spirit, 
letter,  and  body  of  the  laws”  in  regard  to  it  had  been  “ disregard- 
ed or  wantonly  perverted.”  The  Central  Committee  have  as- 
suredly very  little  cause  to  congratulate  themselves  upon  the 
“ beneficient  ” results  of  this  pet  project  of  their  party. 

The  Central  Committee  further  say,  that  they  are  not  ashamed 
of  the  fact  that  the  appropriation  for  schools  in  1872-73  is  four 
times  greater  than  in  1859-GO.  That  is  an  evasion  of  the  ques- 
tion. Hie  taxpayers  approve  of  liberal  appropriations  for  the 
furtherance  of  the  cause  of  popular  education,  but  they  demand 


14 


f 


\ 


that  the  money,  when  appropriated,  shall  be  well  and  honestly 
applied.  The  tax  for  the  support  of  the  schools  has  been  regu- 
larly levied  and  collected,  and  yet  the  State  Superintendent  of 
Education  has  recently  reported  to  the  General  Assembly  that 
the  outstanding  and  unpaid  school  claims  amount  to  $306,256. 
The  same  officer  admits  that  the  non-payment  of  the  claims  has 
“ most  seriously  marred  the  success  and  usefulness  of  our  free 
school  system,”  and  he  says  that  the  “incompetency”  of  mauy 
of  the  teachers  furnishes  no  reason  why  their  claims  should  not 
. be  paid.  A similar  wail  comes  from  the  administration  organ, 
which  says:  “Inefficient  officers  are  primarily  responsible  for  the 
present  state  of  our  schools,  and  unless  some  steps  are  taken  to 
elect  good  men  to  the  position  of  school  commissioners,  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  might  as  well  cut  off  the  school  appropriation  at 
once.  Our  schools  need  renovating,  and  this  can  only  be  done 
by  securing  the  services  not  only  of  good  teachers,  but  good 
, school  officers  also.”  There  is,  therefore,  good  Republican  au- 
thority for  saying  that  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  intended 
for  school  purposes  have  been  squandered  or  stolen,  and  that 
what  has  been  laid  out  has  done  very  little  for  the  advancement 
of  education.  The  Committee  also  take  credit  for  the  “liberal 
appropriations  ” made  for  the  “ unfortunate  patients  ” in  the  Lu- 
natic Asylum,  which  Asylum,  however,  is  head  over  ears  in  debt, 
and  has  reduced  to  the  brink  of  ruin  the  charitable  merchants 
who  stepped  forward  to  save  the  lunatics  from  starvation  or  the 
streets,  and  who  are  now  unable  to  obtain  payment  of  their  just 
claims  against  the  State. 

With  their  usual  recklessness  the  Central  Committee  say  that 
the  Conservative  members  of  the  State  Legislature  held  a caucus, 
and  “ unanimously  resolved  not  to  participate  in  the  proceedings” 
of  the  Taxpayers  Convention,  which  they  deemed  to  be  “ unwise 
and  injudicious.”  So  soon  as  this  statement  appeared  in  print, 
the  Democratic  members  in  question  published  a card,  in  which 
they  declared  the  statement  of  the  Committee  to  be  false,  that  it 
misrepresented  their  sentiments  and  actions,  that  they  adopted 
no  resolution  not  to  participate  in  the  proceedings,  and  that 
several  of  them,  who  were  members,  did  participate  in  the  pro- 
ceedings. 


15 


The  Central  Committee  say  that  the  allegation  of  the 
Memorial  that  the  appropriations  made  in  one  year  for  the  public 
printing  amounted  to  $475,000,  exclusive  of  $100,000  for  pub- 
lishing the  laws,  “ is  wholly  incorrect.”  For  the  statement  of 
the  Memorial  there  is,  nevertheless,  sound  Republican  authority. 
The  committee  appointed  by  the  Legislature  in  January  last  to 
investigate  the  charges  against  the  Republican  Printing  Com- 
pany, say,  in  their  published  report,  that  the  “ aggregate  of  ap- 
propriations to  the  Republican  Printing  Company,  during  the 
last  twelve  months,  amounts  to  $475,000 ; the  Legislature  has 
also  appropriated,  during  the  same  period,  $100,000  for  publish- 
ing the  laws.”  But  the  Committee  urge  that  the  work  for  which 
the  enormous  appropriations  were  made  was  extraordinary,  and 
will  not  occur  again  for  twenty  years.  The  shortest  answer  to 
this  is  a statement  of  the  money  paid  out  for  public  printing 
during  live  years  of  Republican  rule,  ending  in  October,  1873, 


as  follows: 

1868- 69  $ 12  000 

1869- 70  22  316 

1870- 71  133  651 

1871- 72  214  629 

1872- 73  i 331  945 

$714  541 

Due  and  unpaid  Oct.  31,  1873 118  055 


Total,  live  years $832  596 

Annual  average $166,519 


This  latter  shows  the  steady  increase  in  the  amount  of  money 
paid  out  for  printing,  and  exposes  the  flimsy  subterfuge  of  the 
Committee. 

It  seems  to  be  admitted  by  the  Central  Committee  that  gross 
corruptions  exist  in  the  Legislative  and  other  departments;  but 
it  is  regarded  as  a sufficient  justification  that,  without  bribers,  there 
could  be  no  bribery.  Let  it  not  be  forgotten  that  those  who  occupy 
positions  of  authority  exercise  a trust,  and  are  responsible  for  its 
honest  and  faithful  exercise.  We  are  no  apologists  for  those 


16 


who  bribe,  but  we  do  say  and  insist  that  public  officials,  who 
yield  to  bribery  and  become  corrupt,  are  unworthy  of  the  func- 
tions with  which  they  are  charged — betray  the  trusts  reposed  in 
them,  and  cannot  shelter  themselves  under  the  plea  that  they 
were  tempted.  They  are  put  in  office  to  resist  temptation;  and 
if,  when  tried  in  the  balance,  they  are  found  wanting,  they  should 
read  the  handwriting  on  the  wall,  and  hide  their  miscreated 
fronts  in  confusion  and  shame.  To  attempt  to  justify  it,  is  only 
to  magnify  the  wrong  and  the  wickedness. 

That  the  South  Carolina  Government  is  the  worst  in  the  world 
has  passed  into  a by-word.  It  is  needless  to  multiply  proofs. 
The  country  knows  that  this  is  no  false  or  senseless  clamor.  The 
honest  men  of  all  parties  are  seeking  to  rid  themselves  of  the 
stigma  and  the  incumbrance.  Even  the  leaders  of  the  dominant 
party  in  this  State  admit  the  existence  of  the  evils  of  which  w e 
complain,  and  condemn  them  in  more  bitter  phrase  than  we  have 
used.  During  the  session  of  the  Taxpayers’  Convention,  Con- 
gressman Elliott,  in  a speech  delivered  on ’the  occasion  of  a 
public  reception  given  to  him  in  Columbia,  said : “ I confess,  with 
sadness  greater  than  I can  express,  that  here,  in  South  Carolina, 
we  to-day  present  a spectacle  which  does  not  excite  interest  in 
our  cause;  a spectacle  which  disheartens  our  friends,  paralyzes 
our  best  efforts  for  the  complete  civil  protection  of  our  people, 
and  makes  the  name  of  the  State  a by-w^ord  and  reproach  to  our 
race.  * * * * * It  is  not  the  Democracy  that 

will  overthrow  us;  it  is  our  own  party,  with  its  faithless  leaders 
and  their  infatuated  henchmen.  Let  us  not  look  abroad  for  our 
enemies.  They  are  here  ; members  of  our  own  party,  officers 
elected  by  our  own  votes.  * * * * * * * 

I appeal  to  my  fellow  Republicans,  of  every  race  and  nationality, 
to  arise  in  their  strength  and  shake  off  the  terrible  incubus  that 
weighs  down  our  party,  to  strangle  the  poisonous  viper  that  is 
sucking  our  life  blood,  to  remove  the  corroding  leprosy  that  is 
gnawing  at  the  vitals  of  our  body  politic.”  Similar  utterances 
have  been  made  by  other  prominent  officials.  A happy  day  wdll  it 
be  for  Carolina  when  the  wicked  men  who  are  preying  upon  her 
life,  and  gorging  themselves  upon  her  substance,  shall  be  driven 
into  obscurity;  and  when  a just,  honest,  and  benignant  Government 
shall  again  dispense  its  care  and  its  blessings  over  her  people. 


